Redhawk Caldera Trains and winter rains

They had brought her up to speed: where she was, why she was here, why her (Drakru) family wasn't. It was rather a lot of information to digest, so Wildfire plopped on an open patch of grass and tried to do just that... for a little while. But her mind went blank as a cool breeze soughed through her newly clean fur; as she tipped her smudged snout toward the partly cloud sky, soaking up that little bit of October sunshine; as she marveled at the nearly overwhelming sense of liberation.

There was a lot to think about, from how to cope with her long captivity to figuring out when it was safe to go home. Wildfire didn't know any of the answers right now. There were only two things she knew for certain at the moment: that she was safe, among loved ones, and that she would never go within a mile of a cave again in her life.

Aggression had never been Raven's thing. But since Wildfire's sudden, unexpected return, there had been moments when the dark-furred Delta had found herself uncharacteristically lifting a lip and growling at someone. As a medic, her foremost concern was protecting her sister and facilitating a peaceful recovery for her, but with all these strange wolves lingering about and pressing in on them, demanding updates and insisting they help, it was too much. Thankfully, it was much better now that most of the Drageda wolves had left and some semblance of peace had returned to their home.

She had remained close by Wildfire, only really leaving to visit her badger den full of medicinal plants and other items when she needed something to make her sister more comfortable. Now that Wifi was awake and seemed to be doing okay, Raven had relaxed her vigil a bit. While out for a brief walk, she had stumbled upon -- and, miraculously, managed to catch -- a young turkey. She carried it now back to where Wildfire relaxed, intending to offer it to her emaciated sibling.

As she approached, she appreciated for a moment how beautiful her aptly-named sister was under the bright golden sunlight. She chuffed a soft greeting to Wifi through a mouthful of feathers -- not wishing to startle her by sneaking up on her silently -- and gently deposited the bird near Wildfire's front paws. Flashing her sister a warm smile, the dark medic moved a few paces and then sank to the grass as well, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her back. The healer in her knew that Wildfire had been through a lot, but Raven didn't press. Talking was a part of getting over something traumatic -- Raven knew that better than most -- but it had to be on one's own terms. So, instead, she simply asked, "How are you feeling?"

Wildfire scented the meat from a mile away, her jaws wet with drool by the time Raven arrived and offered her the turkey. She had the presence of mind to shoot her sister (and caregiver) a grateful look before diving on the fowl and tearing it into chunks which she bolted down eagerly. She must look frightening, an emaciated mongrel slavering over meat like this. Wildfire didn't care. She had gone with so little food for so long.

Unfortunately for her, there was this small thing known as refeeding syndrome. Within seconds of polishing off the turkey, a horrible sense of vertigo took hold and Wildfire swayed on her feet. She fell onto her hip and vomited like it was the morning following a bender. After emptying her stomach of its fresh contents, she then began to shiver uncontrollably.

She threw Raven a fearful, stricken look, her teeth locked together. She wasn't able to reply to her sister's question, though the answer was probably obvious.

I thought I'd toss in some realistic medical maladies for you to play with! :)

I enjoy the challenge! I think electrolytes are too technical for a wolf to realistically know much about, so I'm doing my best to help Wifi out here without being too meta.

She was pleased to see her sister eat, though the voracity of her appetite concerned the healer somewhat. Her misgivings were validated moments later when a sickly, disoriented cast came over Wildfire's face and she abruptly barfed her lunch all over the ground. Under different circumstances, she might have cracked a joke about Wifi having an objection to her cooking. But right now, all she felt was worry for her sister.

She studied Wildfire for a moment, her face thoughtful as she noticed the stark outline of her ribs, the sharp ridge of her backbone, and the abrupt angles of her joints. She didn't know what her sister had gone through or how she'd ended up in this condition -- curious though she was, she knew that information would come in time -- but whatever had happened, she'd been starved nearly to death. The delta mentally reviewed what she knew about the effects of prolonged food deprivation (having just gotten through a month-long famine herself, she felt pretty qualified in that area). "I think your body is so stripped of nutrients that it's making you sicker. I have an idea for something that might help. It might not taste very good, but would you be willing to try to take it?"

She shuddered one last time, violently, her stiff muscles slowly loosening as the general feeling of terribleness passed. Wildfire's breath gusted out of her and she felt wearier than ever. She pushed away from the puddle of vomit, then sank onto her belly nearby. She wanted to put her head on her paws and go to sleep, yet she forced herself to look at Raven and acknowledge her question.

"Sure, of course," she said quietly. "Thanks, Raven." It was so strange for her sister to be looking after her again, after all this time. It should be Thuringwethil and Portia tending to her, not the Redhawk medic, a thought which put a strange and pinched feeling in the pit of her stomach. Wildfire did her best to ignore it by forcing herself to focus and ask, "What is it?"

After a few moments, Wildfire seemed to regain her composure somewhat. This relieved Raven, but she knew her sister wasn't out of danger yet. She wasn't sure if she could fix what was wrong because it was clear that there was a lot going on that she couldn't see, but she wanted to try and she was glad that Wildfire was willing to give her a chance. "I have some plants at the old badger den that I think might help. Wild rose, chicory, and chamomile flowers will help settle your stomach -- and the chamomile will help you relax. And I'm going to toss in some nettle, too, which should help you regain some strength."

As a wolf, Raven had no way of knowing what anemia was, but it was a common side-effect of prolonged starvation that carried the symptoms of weakness and lethargy. So while Raven only understood that nettles, chewed to a paste, helped a patient's strength and general wellness improve, the plant would actually be stimulating blood cell production, increasing Wildfire's overall health. "I have to go get it, though, so just wait here and rest. I'll be right back."

I'll have her return in my next reply. :)

Raven's voice calmed her, as did the familiarity of terms Wildfire hadn't heard since their childhood, when she had dabbled in naturalism and often helped Raven tend her garden. She still felt queasy and very, very weak, yet she managed a smile and a small dip of her smudged muzzle when the medic said she would be right back. "Okay."

She watched her sister go, then drew in several long, steadying breaths. Wildfire then allowed herself to slump over in the grass. Her chestnut eyes rolled toward the sky as she focused on her breathing. It was something she had begun to do near the end of her captivity in the cave. It helped stave off panic. It hadn't really relaxed her, not back then, but now it helped slow a heart she hadn't even been aware was racing.

A swarm of thoughts crowded in at the edges of her mind, yet Wildfire tried to keep them in the shadows for now. Right now, she just needed to focus on her physical well-being. She could sort out the tangle of her emotions later, when she didn't feel like she was still flirting with death.

Raven loped toward the little old badger den that served as her medical cache, her long legs setting a fast pace that ate up the distance in a matter of minutes. Once there, it took her some time to find what she was looking for. Over the past few months, her stores had gotten mixed-up and disorganized, and the den was generally just a mess. A lot of muffled shuffling and bumping, a crash, and a few grumbles and curses later, she emerged from the tiny shelter with a new bump on her head and a bunch of dirt and dried plant dust stuck in her fur. Giving herself a quick shake, she scooped up her medicines and got to work.

The first task was finding some fresh nettle. This was one of the few things she couldn't use dry, because then its stinging properties became more pronounced and that really just sucked to try to eat and swallow. Fortunately she knew of a few thickets of the stuff not far from here; she was glad that it was a hardy plant that withstood cold temperatures well because it still had plenty of green left on it. Next, everything had to be mixed together and chewed to a pulp. She didn't want anything to scratch at Wildfire's throat on the way down, so she chewed and re-chewed everything until it was a mostly-smooth, if slightly lumpy, texture. So accustomed was she to this practice that the bitter, green flavor of the plants no longer bothered her. To help her sister relax, she tossed in a few poppy seeds as well. It wouldn't be enough to get her high or make her feel drugged, but rather just enough to make her feel less terrible and perhaps get some good, restful sleep.

The rose hips gave the mixture a nice fragrance and a slightly rosy taste, but to make it a bit more palatable (because she really didn't want to be the reason Wildfire barfed again), she dug out a small, old piece of honeycomb that had a little dried, crystallized honey sugar encrusted on it. Into the mash it went, giving the medicine a very subtle sweetness that took the worst of the green, planty edge off. All of this took half an hour, perhaps a little more. Satisfied, she placed the mixture -- enough for about two good mouthfuls -- onto a large deer scapula, which she used as a carrying vessel. Slowly, carefully, she walked with the scapula held awkwardly in her teeth, doing her very best not to drop too much along the way. The mash was quite thick and held together fairly well, and she made it back to Wildfire with most of it intact.

She carefully set the scapula and its green, goopy contents on the ground beside Wildfire. Much to her approval, her sister was still resting right where she had left her. "Okay," she said, her voice soft, "This...doesn't look very appetizing, I know. And it's going to taste really weird and probably a little gross. But I promise it will help if you can get it down."

She didn't realize she'd been drowsing until soft footfalls caused her eyes to slowly slip open again. Wildfire blinked several times as she shifted to face the object Raven set down in front of her. She quietly marveled at her sister's ingenuity, impressed by the medicinal mash as much as the vessel she had chosen. She peered at it for a moment, then her chestnut eyes roved upward, full of gratitude.

"It's okay," Wildfire said quietly before gently bending down and lapping up the thick mixture. It was very strange in both taste and texture, though she didn't even make a face. She had been through so much worse recently than a little bit of funky goop—including poisoning. She could handle this, especially if it would help her recovery.

It took her a lot longer than she would've liked, though finally the last of the medicine was down the hatch. "Thank you, Rave," Wildfire said after licking her lips clean. She was half-expecting her stomach to revolt, yet she felt more or less settled. "It wasn't bad at all," she half-lied, shooting the caregiver another careworn smile of gratitude.

She still didn't have the energy to stand or even sit up—it would probably take a few more days before she could even walk around much—but Wildfire felt a little rejuvenated now, enough that she wanted to offer something in exchange for Raven's troubles, not that it would be a very fair or pleasant trade. "Can I talk to you? Tell you what happened to me?" Wildfire knew the answer but it was going to be a big burden to place on her sister's shoulders, so she wanted to ask anyway.

Raven watched her lap up the medicine, glad that she was able to get it down without throwing up again. The fact that Wildfire didn't complain or comment on the funky taste spoke volumes about how bad she must have felt, and her heart ached for her sister. "You should try to eat again in a little while," she advised. "Meat and animal blood have a lot of nutrients and minerals that your body really needs." She would ask the pack to get some fresh meat for her. Old stuff from one of the caches wouldn't be enough -- it needed to be bloody. Plus, in her sister's fragile state, Raven was worried about her getting sicker from eating soured meat.

Wildfire relaxed after eating it and Raven was about to ask her how her belly felt when her frail sister spoke up first. Her words sobered Raven quickly, for she understood implicitly that Wildfire had been through something traumatic and that her talking about it now was a Big Deal. She hadn't expected to have this conversation just yet, but she was glad that Wifi trusted her and felt comfortable enough to talk about it with her now. Raven looked at her sister with eyes full of concern, her face solemn, and wordlessly lay down beside her. Her answer was clear: she would listen as long as Wildfire needed her to.

She didn't want to relive it but the once, so as soon as Raven settled down to listen, Wildfire said, "You're welcome to tell the others about this. I just want—need to tell someone, in case..." In case the worst happens, she finished mentally, giving her sister a meaningful glance. If Raven had anything to do with it, Wildfire would be back to full health as soon as possible. But she was so sick right now, there was the very real possibility that she would finish wasting away and die. She needed to tell her story before that could happen.

"I was coming down south to visit the caldera. We—my escort, Arlo, and me—weren't very far from here when a wolf approached me asking for my help with his wounded friend. I went with him," Wildfire spoke, voice low and shaking a little as she asked her past self: why didn't you take Arlo with you? "My memories are fuzzy from there but, essentially, he knocked me out somehow and dragged me into a cave, where I was kept for—months, I think." She paused to draw in a shivering breath. "They poisoned me, forcing me to starve myself. They beat me; one of them broke my leg. I was there long enough that it's healed now," she mused in a voice as bleak and miserable as a wasteland. "I was tortured a lot at first, though less as time went on... and, in the end, the very wolf who trapped me simply let me go."

She let her words settle over the medic a moment before peering off into the distance and continuing in a curiously flat voice, "His name is Cicero." And she described him in vivid detail. "There's another reason I wanted to tell someone about this. There's at least one other prisoner there, a girl the same age as my k-kids." Wildfire paused, swallowed, drew in a steadying breath, then continued. "There are probably more. They kept us deep underground in a sort of maze of caves. I hadn't seen the sun or breathed fresh air since before they captured me."

And that was the gist of her tale. Wildfire didn't know whether or not she wanted revenge. She thought the wolves should pay, yet the idea of retribution made her feel so tired. If the Redhawks did decide to take action, Wildfire wouldn't be able to do much herself; it would be a long while yet before she was in any sort of fighting form. But they ought to know, so they could make that decision for themselves. Even if they didn't necessarily want to avenge their prodigal daughter, they should know what kind of neighbors they were keeping.

"Raven," Wildfire said in a slow, conclusive voice, "they're just east of here, in the woods just across the prairie." She had been half out of her mind, as well as dead on her feet, during her flight from its dank borders. Yet she remembered the place from all her wanderings as a youth and knew she could easily lead the Redhawks directly there if it came down to it.

Sorry for the lengthy wait on this!

Raven understood what Wildfire was implying when she said she needed to tell someone in case -- she she shook her head slowly, an iron will clear in her golden eyes. She would not allow Wildfire to die so long as it was within her power to keep that from happening. She didn't care what it took. Nightjar had already died on her watch, and come hell or high water, she would not let it happen to her only remaining littermate.

After that, she listened without making comment, letting Wildfire speak unhindered. A chaotic storm of emotions raged inside of her as her sister recounted all that had been done to her, the strongest being horror and, uncharacteristically for her, rage. That anyone could do something so awful and destructive to somebody for no good reason whatsoever was so far beyond Raven's ability to understand that she didn't even want to try. She devoted her life to healing the sick and relieving their pain and suffering, while some band of psychopaths enjoyed inflicting those very things on innocents just for fun. A growl, so soft it was nearly inaudible, vibrated deep in her chest when Wifi mentioned where they were located. "Blackfeather Woods," she commented, her voice husky with her suppressed anger. It really was a strange feeling, this red-hot anger. "That's the pack that lives there."

A silence descended then as Raven looked at Wildfire, seeing her in an entirely different light now that she understood exactly what had been done to her sister and what had brought her to such a critical state of ill health. She was at a loss for words now -- truly, what was there to say after such an awful tale? The gamma was not an aggressive or vindictive wolf by any means, but what she felt more than anything else at that moment was an overwhelming desire for revenge.

No worries! I'm AFK Friday to Monday anyway. :D

Raven knew the place, including its name. Wildfire suppressed a shudder. Now that someone knew the grisly tale, she didn't want to dwell on it further right now. Surely her sister would take the information to their godparents, then they and the rest of the pack could decide what they wanted to do with it. As for her, there was nothing she could do personally right now but focus on surviving the next few days and weeks.

A long nap sounded incredible right now, though there was one last thing Wildfire wanted to know about this whole horrible situation. "Rave, do you know what happened to Arlo? Was he with Drageda when they came?"

Tags are for reference!

Raven's mind had been made up the moment she had understood exactly who the perpetrators were: she would absolutely be visiting @Finley and @Elwood as soon as she left Wildfire and telling them everything that she'd just learned. It wasn't her place to determine what should be done with that knowledge -- that was for her alphas to decide -- but in her own opinion, if the wolves at Blackfeather Woods were indeed a bunch of torturing nutjobs, then they were entirely too close to Redhawk Caldera for comfort. Especially now that they had chosen to torture one of Redhawk's own, even if the tie was only by blood now that Wifi had joined up with another pack.

Wildfire seemed to have no desire to continue speaking of the ordeal once the story was told, and Raven was all too happy to comply. But her sister's next question pained her nonetheless, only because she knew the terrible answer she must give. "They found him," she confirmed, her voice soft, a little hesitant. "One of your packmates told me. He was...he didn't make it."

Wildfire's eyes pressed closed at this unexpectedly grievous news. Had Cicero and his Blackfeather comrades killed Arlo? She had never seen him in the caves where she'd been kept. If they had abducted and murdered him, why had they kept her alive? Dozens of questions spun in her weary brain and she bit back a despairing moan.

"Will you stay with me while I rest?" she whispered. Assuming her sister obliged her, she wouldn't simply fall asleep at Raven's feet. She would cling to her tightly, thankful that she was here when Arlo had been taken from her and the rest of Drageda had left her behind.

Feel free to wrap it and ship to the 'chives! :)

I can think of no thread more deserving of post #200! <3

Raven could scarcely imagine how Wildfire must have been feeling. To be held captive and tortured was bad enough, but then being left behind by her mate and pack was unimaginably cruel in Raven's eyes. And now she had to cope with the news that her friend was dead. Raven could not fathom the depths of her sister's pain. All she could do was offer her support, to be there. Thuringwethil and the Drageda wolves hadn't been willing to do that for her, but Wifi would never have to question the devotion of her sister. Words were not needed to answer Wifi's question -- she gave her sister a heartfelt smile and scooted closer to her, so that the warmth of her body and the gentle contact of a loved one might offer some comfort. She would stay here forever if that was what Wildfire needed, because there was absolutely nothing in the world more important than that.